Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Lots of great posts lately on APAD, so I feel somewhat guilty for bumping all of those down a notch and putting this up here. I'm in a lousy mood after a horrendous showing by the Cardinals last night against the Pirates in their quest to stay in playoff contention, so I decided to bust out this pack of 1995 Donruss that I bought awhile back along with some other mid-90s stuff that I missed during the many years where I lost interest in collecting cards.

9 - Mike MussinaWell, well, well. This isn't the Donruss that I used to know. Full bleed photos, silver foil, and a deviation from the horizontal card back format that they used for all of the 80s and the early 90s. 18 cards for $2.49 (marked down to $1.50, and found in a 50% off box...) still means some value for the collector, though. It's nice to start things off with an active player. Moose, with his funky delivery, was a pitcher I liked even before he was a Yankee.231 - Jeffrey HammondsHammonds enjoyed a 13-year career but didn't quite live up to the hype he carried with him coming out of college.244 - Hector Fajardo

260 - John Mabry Rated RookieIt's nice to see they still did the Rated Rookies in '95. I love this card. Mabry came up with the Cardinals and had 3 separate stints with them in his 14 year career. He is probably my all-time favorite bench/utility/all-around guy in team history, along with Jose Oquendo, of course.179 - Tim Davis Rated Rookie279 - Roberto Hernandez

157 - Bobby AyalaTeal was big in the mid-90s. Ayala's star shined brightly in the abomination year of 1994 and the Mariners playoff run in 1995. But that was about it for him.143 - Ricky BonesDude, bonus! This era of Brewers unis is totally unrecognizeable to me.70 - Kurt AbbottContinuing with the teal theme...292 - Jose Rijo320 - Matt Walbeck84 - Geronimo Berroa96 - Mike Kingery

114 - Alex Rodriguez Rated RookieAlex Rodriguez. Rated Rookie. Not a "rookie card." Such is life, I suppose. It still looks like a nice card. I didn't have any of him as a Mariner.